Saturday, February 28, 2015

I
had the privilege of sitting down with Miss Tracy to find out more about her
and how she arrived at this place in her life.

I
have to say I was not expecting to hear what she shared with me about how she
got to this point. I was very relieved to hear her story because it gave me
hope for my own life.

First
of all she is a mother of 5 children. Now that in itself is quite an
accomplishment! As a child she did various crafts with her grandma and it
always brought her joy.

She describes herself as a 'Jill of all trades'
sewing, painting, and crafting. I have
personally seen her smash glass so I have no doubt that she can handle any
power tool to create any project. She has always had a passion to create
but it was expressed as a hobby instead of a business.

She
previously worked in the mortgage and banking industry and for Southwest
Airlines where she learned a lot about
the business world and customer service until one day she decided

"I want
something more rewarding"

So
She took some time off to pursue what was in her heart. She ended up taking a
part-time job with Recollections, a Scrapbook company Michaels used to own, teaching
craft classes. She began designing her own projects until eventually she became
their Corporate designer for all of the projects being taught. This is where
her passion for creating merged with the business world.

Now I have to take
time out to impart my thoughts....

I
am fascinated about the background stories of peoples' lives. We can learn so
much from each other. Too many times we see people in their accomplishments
then we judge ourselves by where they are and where we aren't. But we fail to
consider how they really got there. Each job or experience prepares you for the
next stage of your life. No experience will be wasted especially if you give it
all to the Lord. He has a way of weaving things together to create a beautiful
life...

Now
at this stage of her journey you may think 'wow a dream come true it couldn't
get any better than this'. But as the saying goes when life hands you lemons
make lemonade....

Changes
came to Michaels and they decided to close the Recollections stores....

So
again she had some time on her hands. This is when the Create Joy workshops was
born. Her pastor wanted to start an outreach to the community and she wanted to
help out with this by bringing women together who share the same passions,
because she believes it is very therapeutic.

Her
motto is 'keep your hands busy while your heart heals'...

When
she said this statement to me my heart leapt. I know that to be true in my own
life but I never heard anyone put it into words. Regardless if you have natural
creative talents, creating something with your hands is so rewarding whether
it's growing a garden, sewing, painting, or baking it's all an expression of
our hearts and in the process our hearts get tended to...

This
outreach became very successful. The women really enjoyed coming together to
create.

Then
the opportunity came to open 'The Little Blue House" where she was able to
carry over that sense of community and continue to fulfill her creative dreams
as well as passing on her wisdom and talent to all of us!

I
was having so much fun learning her background story but I was really itching
to find out How in the World do you do
all you do! I have a lot to juggle in my own life with a part-time job, this
blog, my booth business and a husband with health issues. I can't imagine
adding 5 children to this...

She
really had some wise words to share...

She
said it is a constant work in progress, you have to let some things go in order
to focus on the really important things. The key is to bring in team members
who can help you and you have to allow them to help you. Be flexible. This
comes in handy when you are a dreamer and an overachiever as she is. When you
see inspiration everywhere and have the drive to do it all you have to discipline
yourself to reign it in.

Now
her final words of wisdom is to explore your creativity, be bold try new things
don't be afraid of making a mistake, new things come out of mistakes. Don't worry
about trying to do it right just let it flow and see where it takes you....